The short version: interference runs both ways. Your radio can pick up noise from household electronics, and your signal can get into other people’s equipment. Most problems are fixed with ferrite chokes, better antenna placement and a friendly conversation, not with regulators.

Noise coming in: what you hear

A steady hash, buzz or rising noise floor, especially on HF, usually comes from something nearby. Common sources:

• Switching power supplies and chargers: phone chargers, laptop bricks and cheap wall adapters are the number one source.
• LED bulbs and dimmers, especially inexpensive ones.
• Solar inverters and optimizers, which can wipe out whole bands in daylight.
• Network gear: Ethernet over power line adapters, routers and poorly shielded cables.
• Appliances with motors or variable-speed drives: furnaces, heat pumps, washers.
• Power lines: a crackling or buzzing noise that gets worse in dry, windy weather often comes from a faulty insulator or loose hardware on a pole.

Finding the source

1. Run the radio on a battery and switch off your home’s main breaker for a moment. If the noise stops, it’s in your house. If not, it’s coming from outside.
2. Turn the breakers back on one at a time to narrow down which circuit it’s on, then unplug things on that circuit one by one.
3. For noise from outside, tune a portable AM radio to a blank spot at the low end of the dial and walk or drive around. The noise gets louder as you get closer.
4. Write down the time, the bands affected and the weather. Patterns help a lot.

Your signal going out: what others notice

• Your voice in a neighbour’s speakers, TV or phone.
• Doorbells, touch lamps, garage doors or alarms acting up when you transmit.
• Your own computer, USB sound card or mic misbehaving. That’s often RF coming back down the outside of your coax. See the Counterpoise Visualizer.

Fixes that actually work

• A 1:1 choke at the antenna feed point, and another where the coax enters the house, to keep RF off the outside of the coax.
• Clip-on ferrite chokes (type 31 for HF) on speaker leads, power cords, USB and network cables, both yours and, with permission, the affected equipment.
• Move the antenna further from the house wiring and the neighbour’s house. Distance helps more than almost anything.
• A good radial system or counterpoise for verticals and end-fed antennas. See Counterpoise & Radials.
• Bond your station equipment together and to a single ground point, which also matters for lightning protection.
• Use less power while you sort it out. Digital modes like FT8 need very little.
• Replace the worst offenders in your own house: noisy chargers and LED bulbs are cheap to swap.

When a neighbour complains

• Stay friendly and take it seriously. To them it’s just a problem with their TV. Most are relieved when you offer to help.
• Ask what happens and when, and offer a quick test: you transmit on different bands while they watch.
• Fix your own station first, then offer chokes for their equipment and install them only with their permission.
• Keep notes of what you tried and when.
• Many cases are caused by consumer devices that simply don’t reject strong nearby signals. That’s not your fault, but helping fix it keeps the peace.

Where to get help

• Your club and an Elmer: experienced hams have usually fixed the same problem before. See Clubs, Nets & Links.
• Power line noise: report it to your power utility with the pole number if you can find it. Utilities have equipment for tracking down faulty hardware.
• ISED handles radio interference complaints in Canada when reasonable local steps haven’t solved the problem. RAC can also offer guidance.

Where to go next

• Troubleshooting
• Grounding & Radials
• Stealth Antennas
• What to expect on HF from southern Alberta